A Grip on Sports: Contentment and inner peace can be hard to find in the middle of a long baseball season

A GRIP ON SPORTS • Back home. Slept in our bed, not another one George Washington might have used. Fan in the open window. Happy dog at our feet. Contended cat near our head. Who needs dreams? Life is one.

•••••••

• OK, enough sap. How about those M’s?

Fifth inning. Two errors. Five runs. Another loss – this one 5-1 – to a mediocre team. At home – where no one is content these days.

While contemplating how tough it is to play baseball with both hands squeezed firmly around your own neck, we also contemplated what’s going to happen next. And choking on that as well.

Moves have been made, some needed – Ty France’s time in Seattle was already over, even as he flailed away at the plate and first base the past couple months – and some not – Julio Rodriguez and J.P. Crawford to the injured list on the same day is another blow to an already blown-apart lineup.

But all the minor leaguers now turned big league placeholders in the world can’t put the Mariners’ Humpty Dumpty hopes back together again. Not this season. Something drastic is needed. And we’re not sure Jerry Dipoto and his front-office staff is up to it.

• Why the pessimism? Track record. Recently, at least. Hamstrung by a budget that was never designed to win, Dipoto made four major offensive changes over the offseason. Out went Jarred Kelenic, Teoscar Hernandez, Eugenio Suarez and Jose Caballero. Brought in? Luke Raley, Mitch Garver, Jorge Polanco and Mitch Haniger. At the core of the changes? Money. Cheaper alternatives to keep the ownership group happy.

The result? Using WAR (wins above replacement) as a simple benchmark, the outgoing four have produced plus 5.8 for their new clubs this season. The incoming group? That total is minus 0.5. Add it up and the lineup lost 6.3 WAR in the deals. How would six wins look right about now?  

Sure, the raw numbers don’t factor in the ballpark, the pressure of making the postseason or a bunch of other items. But they also don’t include the ancillary value better production brings to the rest of the lineup or possible clubhouse benefits. The numbers are the numbers. And they don’t add up to winning.

• Forget what’s going on at T-Mobile right now. The Olympics have begun. The once-every-four-year summer celebration kicked off in Paris during the early morning hours in Spokane. And, yes, we know the opening ceremonies aren’t until Friday. When has any made-for-television event – something the Games have become – has ever followed a simple schedule?

There is soccer and rugby today. The U.S. teams play the hosts in both, with our focus on the men’s national soccer team against France at noon today on USA and Peacock. Yes, it’s a JV competition, as FIFA doesn’t want the World Cup competition, but it’s still worth watching.

• Speaking of the Olympics, the IOC awarded the 2034 Winter Games to Salt Lake City this morning. It was a formality. And came with a caveat.

The International Olympic Committee doesn’t like how some U.S. officials have been criticizing the World Anti-Doping Agency and that organization’s handling of failed drug tests among Tokyo medal-winning Chinese swimmers.

The criticism, and subsequent Congressional hearings, showed how WADA covered up the failed tests and failed other athletes, including Americans. It’s a bad look for the IOC, who is all in with WADA and its seemingly corrupt testing oversight.

The caveat? If the criticism continues, the IOC can pull the Olympics from Salt Lake City.

Which seems to open an opportunity. The U.S. Anti-Doping Agency should turn up the criticism, bot down. Show how the excuses for the positive tests – a hotel’s plates were contaminated with an outlawed substance – should never have been accepted in the first place. Force the IOC, which has as much influence as any organization in the world concerning PED issues, to either admit WADA, in China’s back pocket, needs reform or waste millions finding another host. Either way, there is more hope a better model emerges. And rules are enforced in a more consistent manner.

•••

WSU: Greg Woods has been delving into the Cougars’ position groups in preparation for the opening of training camp. Today he has the most-important one, the offensive line. We have always felt the key to success in college football is an effective offensive line. Will Washington State have one this season? … Elsewhere in the Pac-12 and the nation, we have to make a decision soon. How do we cover the former Pac-12 schools in their new conferences? We have been putting it off and putting it off. But the deadline looms. Aug. 2 is when the changes are all official. Do we make a change? Continue to spend our time finding stories that focus on the 10 schools who are in the Big 12, Big Ten and ACC – or ignore them? Not sure. We will say this: Tradition is a powerful force. … Washington is one of the four headed to the Big Ten. The conference opened its football media days Tuesday. We have coverage from the Huskies and Ducks. … John Canzano was also in Indianapolis (and marveled at the giant inflatable Duck). He has this coverage. He also has this conversation with Big Ten leader Tony Petitti. … Jon Wilner focused on the conference commissioner’s remarks. So did others. In a lot of places. … The Oregonian’s series of football numbers stories is the 30s, which means so are the days until games kick off. Aaron Fentress looks at the best of those wearing No. 39 for Oregon and Oregon State over the years. … The Ducks have a transfer expected to make a big impact. … They also have Phil Knight and his deep pockets. And more than their usual NCAA minor violations. … Former Oregon coach Chip Kelly is in a key position for Ohio State. … Utah is back in the same conference with its biggest rival, BYU. … Arizona is in the Big 12 as well. … Stanford and Cal are members of the ACC, a conference based, as its name implies, on the Atlantic coast. The schools took part in the ACC’s media event yesterday. … Should the ACC’s commissioner have called the legal battle with Florida State and Clemson a fight? … A freshman should have a big role with the Colorado women’s basketball team. … USC and UCLA have quite a few athletes in the Olympics. … Finally, the Rose Bowl has asked the CFP to not be considered for semifinal games. It wants to remain a Jan. 1 tradition and is willing to host quarterfinals every year. The reason, as we see it? The parade actually drives the bus. You have to understand Pasadena to understand that.

Gonzaga: Yesterday we mentioned Graydon Lemke’s announcement he was headed to GU. Jim Meehan has more on the roster addition today. … Elsewhere in the WCC, the Australian Olympic men’s basketball team has three Saint Mary’s alums on the roster.

EWU and Idaho: Around the Big Sky, Idaho State has announced its practice schedule. … UC Davis’ best player has picked up another accolade.

Preps: Former Central Valley star Lexie Hull has seen her role with the Indiana Fever change this season. But she still is on the floor at key times as Caitlin Clark and others make their impact felt.  

Indians: Sean Sullivan is back in the rotation and back dealing. He threw five shutout innings, striking out 10 in the process, and Spokane handed host Eugene an 8-2 defeat. Dave Nichols has the coverage. … The Indians’ second-half lead is two games, after Vancouver fell 4-2 at Hillsboro. … Tri-City defeated visiting Everett 5-2.

Olympics: We mentioned above the Games began today. The schedule for the next couple weeks in Paris is crowded, but the time difference makes it possible to watch a lot live, whether through streaming or on linear television. … We thought Katie Ledecky would be the female flag bearer. We were wrong. It is Coco Gauff, making the tennis player the youngest in U.S. history.

Seahawks: Bob Condotta’s final roster rankings, No. 10 to No. 1 ran on the S-R site this morning. The most-important player? Quarterback Geno Smith of course. … Today’s camp opening puts the spotlight squarely on first-year coach Mike Macdonald. And offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb, an NFL rookie at his position. … The two key new linebackers passed physicals and are ready for camp.

Mariners: Seven losses in the last eight games. The Angels a big part of that streak. And, somehow, the M’s are still tied for first in the American League West. The race to mediocrity and a playoff berth reminds us of a few times the Seahawks either won their division or we’re right in the race despite winning about half their games. … The M’s signed their top two draft picks and gave them their day at T-Mobile.

•••       

• As we were driving through the ultra-wide-open spaces of the Idaho National Laboratory headed home yesterday, Kim asked us how many states we had transversed on our trip. We counted eight. In order: Washington, Oregon, California, Nevada, Arizona, Utah, Idaho and Montana. Then she asked a much tougher question. How many states would we have touched if we had made the same trip on the East Coast? It piqued our interest. We took out a map, overlayed our route, focusing on east/west and north/south, and figured we could have hit at least 22 – and D.C. Wide-open spaces indeed. Until later …